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Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 9:17 am
by notjarvis
For those who don't know what prox is and how to do a little proxing.

Proximity mines (Prox.) is a dispenser itemwhich can be loaded on any scout.

Prox. is often used by scout pilots to kill people entering your sector by putting it by an aleph exit point to damage anyone coming through ("Proxing that Aleph")

Prox. is the most awesome tool a scout can have, it is pretty much the only weapon which can stop a bomb run on it's own, it can give the scout a chance to escape when when under pressure, and can even be used as a great help when killing miners and cons etc.

LANS has produced a nice training video on how to prox. an aleph

Check it out here.

The once you've done that - check out the more advanced How to prox. Bombers...


Anyway - I invite questions and discussion on this tactics - and try it out in Game!


Check out more training Videos here

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:25 pm
by VTurtle
One thing I've been wondering: What's the difference between prox and caltrops in terms of damage and duration?

I plan on looking this kind of thing up in the Core Editor eventually, but it will probably take quite a while before I can parse that comfortably.

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 7:00 pm
by LANS
VTurtle wrote:QUOTE (VTurtle @ Feb 1 2011, 01:25 PM) One thing I've been wondering: What's the difference between prox and caltrops in terms of damage and duration?

I plan on looking this kind of thing up in the Core Editor eventually, but it will probably take quite a while before I can parse that comfortably.
Prox and Caltrop damage is rather complicated. The exact math is here if you want (not important):
http://www.freeallegiance.org/FAW/index.ph...t_II/Prox_extra

But all you need to know is that going faster results in more damage.

Caltrops last much longer, but don't do as much damage. Prox lasts about 15 seconds or so (not sure exactly), and does a lot more damage.

If you know an aleph is proxed or has a caltrop, go really slow. 20mps is a good target speed.

Posted: Tue Feb 01, 2011 11:51 pm
by FreeBeer
Prox lasts for 18 seconds once armed. Caltrops are bought by the commander and placed by him. Prox you just carry in a prox-capable ship and deploy whenever you deem it appropriate.

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 1:18 am
by Lutra
Hm.... Is it just me, or do some people get so fixated on killing me that they don't notice my prox? Either way, I find that in early game, a package of prox will do me good. What's the general optimal prox count to carry? too many are heavy, but too few stops you from getting kills

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:21 am
by LANS
Lutra wrote:QUOTE (Lutra @ Feb 1 2011, 08:18 PM) Hm.... Is it just me, or do some people get so fixated on killing me that they don't notice my prox? Either way, I find that in early game, a package of prox will do me good. What's the general optimal prox count to carry? too many are heavy, but too few stops you from getting kills
Not really, but well placed prox is the best weapon in the game. Getting the hang of open-air prox is tough, but its ever so satisfying to vaporize a boosting interceptor with prox.

If I'm going to camp an aleph, sit on miner D, escort a bomber or constructor I'll almost always take a full load of prox (sometims I'll take a gat in cargo for shooting enemy probes and high-kb pods, or an empty slow to drop my shields into and go low-sig). The extra mass isn't too bad if you think ahead about where you need to stop, and even "light" nan scouts are sitting ducks for any offensive ship.

Scouts really aren't any good for dogfighting. Run and lure them into prox, but facing off is usually a losing proposition.

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 2:50 am
by l1ngus
Lutra wrote:QUOTE (Lutra @ Feb 2 2011, 02:18 AM) Hm.... Is it just me, or do some people get so fixated on killing me that they don't notice my prox? Either way, I find that in early game, a package of prox will do me good. What's the general optimal prox count to carry? too many are heavy, but too few stops you from getting kills
It is hard to prox someone in open space. Try to use limited spaces for an effective usage of prox (i.e. at the alephs, near the rock, where your constructor, that is under attack, tries to plant, ...).

Your loadout should depend on the gamesituation. For the opening I recommend 2 proxes in cargo. If you want to lock dow your miningsector by proxing the aleph, you should carry all prox in cargo. Try out different load-outs and you will find out, what favors your way of flying.

Good observation on the mass of proxmines. Yes, they are heavy and you will notice the difference when accellerating. But the difference isn't that big, so you don't need to worry about that right now. In fact the weight advantage of an empty ship is only used by few players in very rare occasions, like dumping all cargo to arrive in time for a last second minersave.

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:15 am
by Lutra
l1ngus wrote:QUOTE (l1ngus @ Feb 1 2011, 09:50 PM) It is hard to prox someone in open space. Try to use limited spaces for an effective usage of prox (i.e. at the alephs, near the rock, where your constructor, that is under attack, tries to plant, ...).

Your loadout should depend on the gamesituation. For the opening I recommend 2 proxes in cargo. If you want to lock dow your miningsector by proxing the aleph, you should carry all prox in cargo. Try out different load-outs and you will find out, what favors your way of flying.

Good observation on the mass of proxmines. Yes, they are heavy and you will notice the difference when accellerating. But the difference isn't that big, so you don't need to worry about that right now. In fact the weight advantage of an empty ship is only used by few players in very rare occasions, like dumping all cargo to arrive in time for a last second minersave.
Hm... 2 proxes sounds good... I guess I mostly noticed the weight because in the bios scout, HC and 3 prox made me die repeatedly until I mashed cloak to escape the door campers. likewise carying 6 prox because a commander told me to led to me getting mowed down by a patty (resulting in his Podkill as he went 250 m/s into my 7th armed prox) it wasn't really the speed cap (losing maybe 10-20 m/s of speed off max) as much as it was acceleration that I noticed the things happening funny, especially as Rix and Dreg, where my pitch and yaw became almost as bad as a SB and where it would take 5-10 seconds to change direction and accelerate. Thanks, again. I'll keep an eye out for the effects

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 5:48 am
by juckto
QUOTE it wasn't really the speed cap (losing maybe 10-20 m/s of speed off max)[/quote]
Whatever you do or don't carry, it shouldn't affect your top speed.

Posted: Wed Feb 02, 2011 6:28 am
by Lutra
juckto wrote:QUOTE (juckto @ Feb 2 2011, 12:48 AM) Whatever you do or don't carry, it shouldn't affect your top speed.
it might r the various core difference... I still have many variables to look at